Battle of Prokhorovka

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Battle of Prokhorovka
Part of the Battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front of World War II
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-022-2950-15A, Russland, Panzer im Einsatz.jpg
German tanks during Operation Citadel
Date
12 July 1943[a]
Location Prokhorovka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
512'11?N 3644'11?ECoordinates: 512'11?N 3644'11?E
Result
Both sides missed their objectives:[1][2]
German tactical victory[3][4][5][6]
Soviet operational victory[7][8][9]
Belligerents
Germany Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Hermann Hoth
Nazi Germany Paul Hausser
Nazi Germany Otto Deloch
Soviet Union Nikolai Vatutin
Soviet Union Pavel Rotmistrov
Soviet Union Alexei Zhadov
Soviet Union Stepan Krasovsky
Soviet Union Vladimir Sudets
Units involved
II SS-Panzer Corps
1st SS-Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
2nd SS-Panzergrenadier Division Das Reich
3rd SS-Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf
5th Guards Tank Army[b]
29th Tank Corps
18th Tank Corps
2nd Guards Tank Corps[c]
2nd Tank Corps[d]
5th Guards Mechanized Corps[e]
Other units
33rd Guards Rifle Corps[f]
10th Tank Corps[g]
31st Tank Corps
23rd Guards Rifle Corps[h]
48th Rifle Corps
Strength
German:
About 290 tanks and assault guns[i]
Soviet:
About 610 tanks and self-propelled guns[i]
Casualties and losses
German (on 12 July):
4380 tanks and assault guns destroyed or damaged.[j]
Soviet (on 12 July):
300400 tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed or damaged.[j]
Battle of Prokhorovka is located in Russia Battle of Prokhorovka
Location of Prokhorovka within modern Russia
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Eastern Front
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Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on 12 July 1943[a] near Prokhorovka, 87
kilometres (54 mi) southeast of Kursk, in the Soviet Union, during the Second World
War. Taking place on the Eastern Front, the engagement was part of the wider Battle
of Kursk, and occurred when the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army
attacked the II SS-Panzer Corps of the German Wehrmacht in one of the largest tank
battles in military history.[k]
In April 1943, the German high command began preparing for Operation Citadel, with
the objective of enveloping and destroying the Soviet forces in the Kursk salient,
by attacking and breaking through the base of the salient from north and south
simultaneously. The German offensive was delayed several times due to the
vacillation of the leadership and the addition of more forces and new equipment.
The Soviet high command, Stavka, had learned of the German intentions, and
therefore used the delay to prepare a series of defensive belts along the routes of
the planned German offensive. The Soviet leadership also massed several armies deep
behind their defences as the Stavka Reserve. This army group, the Steppe Front, was
to launch counteroffensives once the German strength had dissipated. The 5th Guards
Tank Army was the primary armoured formation of the Steppe Front.
On 5 July 1943 the Wehrmacht launched its offensive. On the northern side of the
salient, the German forces bogged down within four days. On the southern side, the
German 4th Panzer Army, with Army Detachment Kempf on its eastern flank, attacked
the Soviet defences of the Voronezh Front. They made slow but steady progress
through the Soviet defensive lines.
After a week of fighting, the Soviets launched their counteroffensives, Operation
Kutuzov in the northern side and a coinciding one in the southern side. On the
southern side of the salient near Prokhorovka, the 5th Guards Tank Army engaged the
II SS-Panzer Corps of the 4th Panzer Army, resulting in a large clash of armour.
The 5th Guards Tank Army suffered significant losses in the attack, but succeeded
in preventing the Wehrmacht from capturing Prokhorovka and breaking through the
third defensive belt the last heavily fortified one. The German high command,
unable to accomplish its objective, cancelled Operation Citadel and began
redeploying its forces to deal with new pressing developments elsewhere.
The Red Army went on a general offensive, conducting Operation Polkovodets
Rumyantsev in the southern side and continuing Operation Kutuzov in the northern
side. The Soviet Union thus seized the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front,
which it was to hold for the rest of the war.